Post 1: Book Review

I decided that every time I read a book for the first time I'm going to do a bit of a review for it on here. To be honest, it doesn't happen very often, because I'm a bit re-reader. I got to read a new book this week though.

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell 
by Chris Colfer

I'm going to be honest and say that when I first heard that he'd written a book, I had no intention of reading it whatsoever. I assumed that the book got published simply because it's Chris Colfer and I don't believe in buying/reading something just because of who put it out (read: George Lucas). At some point I ended up finding out what the book was about, though. It's a modern day fairy tale telling the continuing story of the characters from the fairy tales we grew up with (Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, etc). My interest was piqued. So I asked my brother if he'd heard anything about it (my brother works for Chapter Indigo). He said that the writing itself wasn't great but that the story was probably okay. In the end I decided to see if the story concept would override the writing itself and put a hold on it through the library.

In short, yes, the concept overrode the writing. I could tell that writing wasn't the sole focus in his life. However, I was so interested in his take on things (The Charming Dynasty, the back story to characters, how the Bailey twins fit in to things) that I sped through the book. It was very obvious that he's a fan of J.K. Rowling by how he revealed things in tiny bits and pieces through the story before revealing it all at the end, with a bit of a twist. I also greatly enjoyed his witty sarcastic sense of humor, mainly through Conner Bailey, one of the twins, who fall into The Land of Stories and are completing tasks to be able to get back home.

The book itself is a children's book that I would relate to Shrek, Madagascar or any Disney movie. Kids will enjoy it, but there are a few jokes thrown in there for the adults to chuckle at. There are quite a few profound statements in there as well, which I want to write down before I return the book to the library tomorrow.

All in all, I really enjoyed the book. It kept my interest, it kept me laughing and I'm looking forward to the sequel. On the con side, you can tell he's not an accomplished writer and there are points where his writing style got a bit frustrating. I would still happily recommend it as a fun light read, though.